Some B.C. Coastal First Nations feel salmon aquaculture will unblock hundreds of millions in new investment and address crises in food security, affordability and youth employment.
The First Nations Finfish Stewardship Coalition (FNFFS) says urgent action is needed as food bank lines are getting longer in rural and remote communities where food insecurity and job losses in salmon aquaculture are being acutely felt.
With aquaculture companies already scaling back operations ahead of the planned 2029 salmon net pen ban, a group of First Nations leaders warn the policy is undermining critical sources of employment, new foreign and Indigenous investment as well as locally produced, affordable and sustainable food.
At the April 29 press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Chiefs from the FNFFS unveiled a plan for greater Indigenous equity and leadership in salmon aquaculture, while also welcoming the federal government’s $1.3 billion investment in wild Pacific salmon conservation.
The call is to reverse the net pen ban set to go into effect in 2029. The group says there is much at stake including significant new foreign direct investment and the long-term economic participation of First Nations communities in a sector where they are already key partners. The Coalition says this approach directly aligns with the Carney government’s federal priorities of attracting investment, creating jobs, improving affordability, strengthening food security and advancing economic reconciliation in an increasingly uncertain global economy.
“B.C. coastal First Nations believe in conservation and having a choice to responsibly develop sustainable aquaculture economies for our people and within our territories and salmon aquaculture is the backbone,” said Dallas Smith, Tlowitsis First Nation and Spokesperson for the FNFFS.
“This net pen policy has had a damaging effect on the economies of coastal communities, British Columbia and Canada,” Ivan Vindheim, CEO MOWI ASA said. “And has directly impacted foreign investment. It has weakened food security and food sovereignty, forcing Canadians to rely on imported salmon instead of affordable Canadian-raised fish or go without.
The Coalition presented what they call a Five Pillar Plan, which included recommendations to transform the ISO-accredited Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences (CAHS) to the ISO-accredited Indigenous Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences (iCAHS), located in Wei Wai Kum territory. The plan also calls for the creation of a Nation-led Salmon Stewardship Fund which would require salmon aquaculture companies to make a per-harvested-tonne contribution to the iCAHS as well as an increased First Nations equity investment in the B.C. coastal aquaculture industry and ancillary businesses throughout the supply chain.
The FNFFS also stated that since the next six-year salmon grow-out cycle begins in June of this year, without policy clarity, aquaculture companies face two stark options: proceed with production only to cull millions of healthy fish in 2029, or halt the cycle entirely, triggering immediate job losses across rural, remote, coastal and Indigenous communities.
“Modern salmon aquaculture is the backbone of the seafood processing, water transportation, small craft harbours, net repair, and other businesses that support the sector – including the development of new technologies,” said Isaiah Robinson, Deputy Chief Counsellor Kitasoo Xai’Xais Nation. “It just doesn’t make sense that the federal government wants us to accept the development related to tankers, pipelines and increased natural resource development, yet it continues to block new investments in the highly regulated salmon farming sector that feeds families and employs thousands in rural British Columbia.”